Learning how to close out close games helped propel the Bellevue College women’s basketball team back to the post-season.
The Bulldogs, who tied for second in the North Region with an 11-3 league record, will face Lane in the Sweet 16 of the NWAC women’s basketball championships on Thursday at 4 p.m. at Everett Community College.
BC finished 18-6, rebounding from an early season skid of three consecutive losses – two of which saw the Bulldogs let a lead slip away in the closing minutes.
Down the stretch, the Bulldogs notched a pair of one-point victories and avenged an earlier overtime loss with a victory over Peninsula, which tied for second with BC.
“You don’t hear this too often, especially at the junior college level, but my excitement coming into every practice was just like the first day of practice,” said Bellevue coach Mel Stubblefield. “The players that we have just want to work, they want to get better. They challenge themselves. It shows to what type of team we are; we just won’t back down.”
With nine freshmen on the roster, the Bulldogs relied heavily on returning sophomores Amanda Luckett, Natalie Amos, Makenna Faulkner and Dakota Laut.
Luckett, a 6-1 forward, was a second-team All-North Region selection last season. Luckett leads the Bulldogs in scoring and rebounding, averaging 15.4 points and 10.5 boards per game. Luckett has scored in double figures in 12 consecutive games and had double-digit rebounds in 12 games, including a single-game high of 25.
Amos, a 5-9 guard-forward, was a first-team All-North choice as a freshman and made the all-defensive team. Amos averages 10.7 points, 5.0 rebounds, and 2.5 assists.
Faulkner averages 8.9 points and 4.8 rebounds, but has bettered those numbers in conference play. Laut has contributed key minutes off the bench.
Redshirt freshman guard Addy Clabby, who missed most of last season with an injury, has come back to average 6.6 points and a team-high 3.8 assists, and leads the team in minutes played.
The Bulldogs also have an improved perimeter game with three freshmen – Rokki Brown, Mo Bungay, and Kate Rutledge each with at least 32 3-pointers. Rutledge is shooting 40 percent from beyond the arc. In the 63-62 victory at Everett in late January, Bungay hit the game-winner with one second left.
“Looking at our bench, pretty much everybody can come in and do the same thing that our starters do,” Stubblefield said. “That’s been awesome to have and see players step in and understand their role.”
Stubblefield said he was pleased to see the current team reach the potential he thought they had.
“The players that came back from last year, and then the players that we added, I knew that if they all bought in and they all accepted their roles, that we had the potential to be a pretty good team,” he said. “So far, we’re doing a pretty good job of that.”
Lane, which finished second in the South Region at 12-4 and 23-6 overall, closed out the regular season with four consecutive victories. The Titans, ranked third in the NWAC Coaches Poll, are led by 5-11 sophomore guard-forward Kalina Rojas, who averages 16.8 points and 12.5 rebounds.
“Lane is good. Sheley (coach Greg Sheley), year in and year out, always has great teams,” Stubblefield said. “It’s an honor to play Lane and go up against them. He always has them going and peaking at the right time.”
While the Bulldogs always prepare for each specific opponent, at this stage of the season it’s important his team focus on what they need to do, Stubblefield said.
“We’ll tweak a thing here or there to go up against Lane, but it really comes down to execution and making sure we take care of our responsibilities.”
Last Updated December 7, 2020
